People have always jotted down notes to remind themselves of appointments or tasks. Unfortunately, these notes are often lost or misplaced, which leads to missed meetings or unfinished work. With the advent of computers, electronic reminder applications gained popularity. Several reminder applications display user-created notes or information in a timely and efficient manner, permitting a user to create and see a reminder without running the risk of losing a physical piece of paper. This convenient and efficient method for scheduling tasks allows a computer user to have complete confidence in his ability to create and view reminders for any situation, so long as he is able to access his computer.
However, these reminder applications are generally limited in scope. Many reminder applications are limited to simple text notes. That is, while several computer-executable applications may permit a user to create and schedule electronic reminders, they also limit the user to typing in a short note or other piece of information to serve as the reminder. Thus, in the case where a user wishes to resume editing a document at a later time, the user may create a reminder, but must then locate and open the document without any assistance from the reminder application. If the user has forgotten where the document is stored, this may lead to wasted time as the user attempts to locate the document or, in an extreme case, the inability to continue working if the document cannot be found.
To date, the inventors believe that the only applications which permit documents to be associated with a reminder are electronic mail programs, and then only in the case where the document is an electronic mail message. Thus, there is a need in the art for a means to schedule a reminder for a later date and time, and to associate a file with the reminder that may be accessed or otherwise manipulated when the reminder is activated.
Additionally, current reminder applications only function when the application itself is active on a computer. If the application is not running at the time the reminder is due to appear, then that reminder is delayed until the next time the application is active. This may also lead to missed appointments and delayed work. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a means to create computer-based reminders, and to retrieve these reminders regardless of whether the reminder application is active.